I take these wife men, that crow fo at these fet kind of fools, no better than the fools' zanies."

OLI. O, you are fick of felf-love, Malvolio, and taste with a distemper'd appetite. To be generous, guiltlefs, and of free difpofition, is to take those things for bird-bolts, that you deem cannonbullets: There is no flander in an allow'd fool, though he do nothing but rail; nor no railing in a known difcreet man, though he do nothing but reprove.

CLO. Now Mercury indue thee with leafing, for thou speak'ft well of fools!"

Re-enter MARIA.

MAR. Madam, there is at the gate a young gentleman, much desires to speak with you.

OLI. From the count Orfino, is it?

MAR. I know not, madam; 'tis a fair young man, and well attended.

OLI. Who of my people hold him in delay?

no better than the fools' zanies] i. e. fools' baubles, which had upon the top of them the head of a fool. DOUCE.

But the

6 Now Mercury indue thee with leafing, for thou Speak' ft well of fools! This is a ftupid blunder. We thould read, with pleafing, i. e. with eloquence, make thee a gracious and powerful speaker, for Mercury was the god of orators as well as cheats. firft editors, who did not underftand the phrafe, indue thee with pleafing, made this foolish correction; more excufable, however, than the laft editor's, who, when this emendation was pointed out to him, would make one of his own; and fo, in his Oxford edition, reads, with learning; without troubling himfelf to fatisfy the reader how the firft editor fhould blunder in a word fo easy to be understood as learning, though they well might in the word. pleafing, as it is ufed in this place. WARBURTON.

I think the prefent reading more humourous: May Mercury teach thee to lie, fince thou lieft in favour of fools! JOHNSON.

MAR. Sir Toby, madam, your kinfman. OLI. Fetch him off, I pray you; he fpeaks nothing but madman: Fie on him! [Exit MARIA. Go you, Malvolio: if it be a fuit from the count, I am fick, or not at home; what you will, to dif mifs it. [Exit MALVOLIO.] Now you fee, fir, how your fooling grows old, and people diflike it.

CLO. Thou haft fpoke for us, Madonna, as if thy eldeft fon fhould be a fool: whofe fcull Jove cram with brains, for here he comes, one of thy kin, has a moft weak pia mater.

Enter SIR TOBY BELCH.

OLI. By mine honour, half drunk.-What is he at the gate, coufin?

SIR TO. A gentleman.

OLI. A gentleman? What gentleman?

SIR TO. 'Tis a gentleman here-A plague o'these pickle-herrings !-How now, fot?

CLO. Good Sir Toby,

'Tis a gentleman here-] He had before faid it was a gentleman. He was asked, what gentleman? and he makes this reply; which, it is plain, is corrupt, and should be read thus:

'Tis a gentleman-heir..

i. e. fome lady's eldest fon just come out of the nursery; for this was the appearance Viola made in men's clothes. See the character Malvolio draws of him presently after. WARBURTON.

Can any thing be plainer than that Sir Toby was going to defcribe the gentleman, but was interrupted by the effects of his pickle-herring? I would print it as an imperfect fentence. Mr. Edwards has the fame obfervation. STEEVENS.

Mr. Steevens's interpretation may be right: yet Dr. Warburton's reading is not fo itrange, as it has been reprefented. In Broome's Jovial Crew, Scentwell fays to the gypfies: "We must find a young gentlewoman-heir among you." FARMER.

OLI. Coufin, coufin, how have you come fo early by this lethargy?

SIR TO. Lechery! I defy lechery: There's one at the gate.

OLI. Ay, marry; what is he?

SIR To. Let him be the devil, an he will, I care not: give me faith, fay I. Well, it's all one. [Exit. OLI. What's a drunken man like, fool?

CLO. Like a drown'd man, a fool, and a madman: one draught above heat makes him a fool; the fecond mads him; and a third drowns him.

OLI. Go thou and feek the coroner, and let him fit o' my coz; for he's in the third degree of drink, he's drown'd go, look after him.

CLO. He is but mad yet, Madonna; and the foo! fhall look to the madman. [Exit CLOWN.

Re-enter MALVOLIO.

MAL. Madam, yond young fellow fwears he will fpeak with you. I told him you were fick; he takes on him to understand so much, and therefore comes to speak with you: I told him you were afleep; he seems to have a fore-knowledge of that too, and therefore comes to speak with you. What is to be faid to him, lady? he's fortified against any denial.

OLI. Tell him, he fhall not speak with mc.

MAL. He has been told fo; and he fays, he'll ftand at your door like a fheriff's poft, and be

8

above heat] i. e. above the state of being warm in

a proper degree. STEEVENS.

9

ftand at your door like a fheriff's poft,] It was the cuftom for that officer to have large poffs fet up at his door, as an

the fupporter to a bench, but he'll fpeak with

you.

OLI. What kind of man is he?

MAL. Why, of man kind.

OLI. What manner of man?

MAL. Of very ill manner; he'll speak with you, will you, or no.

OLI. Of what personage, and years, is he?

2

MAL. Not yet old enough for a man, nor young enough for a boy; as a fquafh is before 'tis a peafcod, or a codling when 'tis almost an apple: " 'tis with him e'en standing water,' between boy and man. He is very well-favour'd, and he speaks

indication of his office. The original of which was, that the king's proclamations, and other public acts, might be affixed thereon, by way of publication. So, Jonfon's Every Man out of his Humour: put off

66

"To the lord Chancellor's tomb, or the Shrives posts." So again, in the old play called Lingua:

"Knows he how to become a fcarlet gown? hath he a pair of fresh pots at his door? WARBURTON.

Dr. Letherland was of opinion, that "by this poft is meant a poft to mount a horse from, a horseblock, which, by the custom of the city, is still placed at the sheriff's door."

In the Contention for Honour and Riches, a mafque by Shirley, 1633, one of the competitors fwears

By the Shrive's poft," &c.

Again, in A Woman never vex'd, Com. by Rowley, 1632: "If e'er I live to see thee sheriff of London,

2

66

I'll gild thy painted posts cum privilegio." STEEVENS. or a codling when 'tis almoft an apple:] A codling anciently meant an immature apple. So, in Ben Jonfon's Alchemift: "Who is it, Dol?

"A fine young quodling."

The fruit at prefent styled a codling, was unknown to our gardens in the time of Shak fpeare. STEEVENS.

3 ———'tis with him e'en ftanding water,] The old copy has-in. The emendation was made by Mr. Steevens. In the firft folio e'en and in are very frequently confounded. MALONE,

very fhrewifhly; one would think, his mother's milk were fcarce out of him.

OLI. Let him approach: Call in my gentle

woman.

MAL. Gentlewoman, my lady calls.

Re-enter MARIA.

[Exit.

OLI. Give me my veil: come, throw it o'er my face; We'll once more hear Orfino's embaffy.

Enter VIOLA.

Vio. The honourable lady of the houfe, which is fhe?

OLI. Speak to me, I fhall anfwer for her; Your will?

V10. Moft radiant, exquifite, and unmatchable beauty, I pray you, tell me, if this be the lady of the houfe, for I never faw her: I would be loth to caft away my fpeech; for, befides that it is excellently well penn'd, I have taken great pains to con it. Good beauties, let me fuftain no fcorn; I am very comptible, even to the leaft finifter ufage. OLI. Whence came you, fir?

V10. I can fay little more than I have ftudied, and that question's out of my part. Good gentle one, give me modcft affurance, if you be the lady of the house, that I may proceed in my speech. OLI. Are you a comedian?

Vio. No, my profound heart: and yet, by the

account.

I am very comptible,] Comptible for ready to call to
WARBURTON.

Viola feems to mean juft the contrary. She begs the may not be treated with fcorn, because fhe is very fubmiffive, even to lighter marks of reprehenfion. STEEVENS.